Shawn and I spent the last two days in Pocahontas County - and what a great time to be there! We enjoyed mild temperatures, sunny skies, and breathtaking views across the county! The goal of our visit was to tour a few more structures to be included in the 2016 summer field season.

We spent Wednesday touring the southern portion of the county with Dan Daley and his family. Dan has a wealth of knowledge about log structures and the history of the area, so it was a real treat to be with him for the day. Our first stop required a bit of off-roading, then unplanned hiking, to a secluded farm...

Halfway to the first structure we were stopped by a locked gate. We had to abandon the vehicles and hike in the rest of the way.

The hike was totally worth it! As we rounded a corner, deep in the forest, we saw a small clearing and an old homestead.

Haunted House

Dan and Shawn walking up to the homestead.

The house Dan was taking us to is lovingly referred to as "Haunted House". As you probably know, this isn't the first log structure we've seen with a history of ghost stories.

Haunted House is located next to an old stagecoach road, the lane we walked in on. It was believed to have been an inn at one point and an impromptu hospital during the battle of Droop Mountain in the Civil War.

Front view of Haunted House. The old stagecoach road ran along the right of the large tree out front.

The original log portion of Haunted House extends from the central chimney to the right of the house. The addition on the left was added some time later, likely to accommodate guests when it served as an inn.

We were a bit bummed to see the logs covered by siding on the exterior, but fortunately there were still some logs exposed on the interior of the structure. We were not able to see which notching style was used in construction though.

Logs exposed in the kitchen of Haunted House.

The amount of artistic detail that went into Haunted House, both on the interior and exterior, further suggests it was an inn. I especially enjoyed the birds on the stairs!

In addition to the log house, there was also a log corn crib on the property. The corn crib was notched in half dovetail so we assume it was likely constructed in the mid 1800s.

Shawn standing next to Haunted House corn crib, dovetail notching.

Based on our assessment of Haunted House, we believe we can provide a date of both structures and we have added it to the project.

On our way from Haunted House to the next stop we passed another log structure. It is believed to have been the Jacox Post Office in the early 1800s. Though it was not one we had permissions to tour I snapped a quick photo from the road. It's a beauty!

Jacox Post Office.

Sisler Cabin

Our next stop for the day was Sisler Cabin, a two-story log house on the Greenbrier/Pocahontas County border.

Sisler Cabin, two-story log house with half dovetail notching.

Before we got down to business at Sisler Cabin, we had to take a moment (more like 20 minutes) to see the cutest things ever....

Piglets!!!!!

​I had no idea they were so adorable. We could hardly pull ourselves away from them. Momma pig was a pretty lady too.

Piglets. My new favorite animals. Don't tell my dogs I said that!

I think Shawn had plans to sneak a piglet home with us. Momma Pig wasn't having that though!

​See how sidetracked we get when cute animals are around? Every single time....

Kalina with Momma Pig and her babies.

Back to Sisler Cabin.

Sisler Cabin is a perfect candidate for tree-ring dating. The logs are exposed both inside and outside and bark is still present on many logs. We are excited to be working there this summer!

After we peeled ourselves away from the piglets we headed off to the next site. We knew a bit about this structure because it is actually located in Greenbrier County and the Greenbrier historical society had mentioned it to us before. However, I was not prepared for what we were about to see.

Caraway House

Tucked well away from the road was a huge two-story log house with a one-story addition on the backside; the Caraway House.

Caraway House. Steeple notched and monstrous.

Backside addition to Caraway House.

Caraway House is a real head-scratcher. Upon first glance, you might assume the one story addition was actually built first and the rest of the house was added on later as the family and needs expanded. But I believe, based completely on notching styles and a hunch, that the one-story addition was the last bit of construction done on the house. The notching style of the one story addition is half dovetail (suggesting mid 1800s) and the notching style of the large two-story portion is steeple or "V" (suggesting late 1700s - early 1800s).

Additionally, I do not believe the entire two-story structure was built all at once. Looking closely at the logs, it appears that either a one or two story structure was built first, then the second side (two stories) was added on later, and lastly the one story addition was built.

Caraway House, central wall exterior second floor. Note the logs are not continuous except for the lowest second floor log.

Caraway House, central wall exterior. First floor. Note the difference between construction of top and bottom floor here.

I personally think Caraway House may have started as a one-story cabin, perhaps the portion on the lower left side and then expanded into a two-story double wide log house, and then the backside addition was built.

But hey, I could be completely wrong about all of this. Only tree-ring dating and time will tell! We are absolutely, without a doubt, adding Caraway House to the project! ​

Callison House

Up next was Callison House, a beautiful farm house on a hill. The views were almost heaven indeed!

But Callison House was completely covered in siding, so we had to journey inside to see some logs. We had a real surprise waiting for us inside. The logs were very large. Upwards of 16 inches in diameter (most logs are around 12 inches). And in beautiful condition.

Callison House logs.

Half dovetail notching. Mid 1800s construction perhaps?

Unfortunately, we were only able to see exposed logs on one wall of the house. For us this means we would only be able to date one wall of the house and with far less samples than we normally take - it was a no go. And a real bummer too.

​If ever Callison House undergoes a remodel and the plaster gets torn down, we hope to be there collecting cores from the newly exposed logs! This one will remain a mystery for now.

That concluded our tour for the day. Dan and his family invited us to their farm for an evening of discussion and great food. We went home with full bellies and smiles on our faces. Day one of our tour was great!!!

​Thank you Dan, Kay, and Kalina for showing us around all day and inviting us in your beautiful home! Keep up the good work on your fort Kalina! We hope to stay in it the next time we're in town :)

Sorry to be super secretive and not tell you all we were going to Lewisburg, WV yesterday, but we were and we did...

Though somehow a few of you knew we were in town anyway. Oh Lewisburg!

Yesterday morning started suuuper early for us, but we had a long day ahead of us. We've been working on the dating of the Barracks and are hoping to present our results in late May, but we keep getting stuck on a bit of a mystery.

​Now I'm not going to tell you all the details here, no siiir, but let's just say not everything in the Barracks is as it seems.

So we needed to collect a few more cores to help clear up the mystery. We also needed to measure the diameter of all the logs we've sampled thus far (for Kristen's dissertation), so we figured yesterday was a great day to go do it.

While we were there, we ran into Mark Bowe from Barnwood Builders, who has worked on much of the restoration of the Barracks. You could say it has taken a village to get the Barracks where it is today, and Mark, Shawn, and I are part of that village. It was really cool to meet Mark and talk wood. I could have swapped notes all day long, but Mark is a busy man and the HTP had more work to do!

In less than two weeks, Shawn and I are hitting the road again. And just in time; I was starting to get cabin fever! We're going back to Pocahontas County for our final tour of log structures for the 2016 field season. We've got a great line up for this tour, and can't wait to meet with everyone and see the structures. We're still glowing from our tour in November when Bill McNeel took us to a huge barn with diamond notching! We hope to see more gems on this trip! Stay tuned...